Worm Therapy to Combat Allergies

You've always been told to rid your body of parasite worms to improve your health. But with worm therapy, the parasites are purposely put into the body to treat diseases and disorders. Many people have not heard of worm therapy, yet it's been researched since the early 1980s. Clinics only treat around 100 people or less each year.

What is Worm Therapy?

• Helminthic therapy, or worm therapy, is sometimes used as a treatment for autoimmune diseases and immune disorders. Worm therapy is the careful process of deliberately infesting the human body with parasite worms to treat a disease or illness. Examples of an autoimmune disease are Celiac disease, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis and ulcerative colitis.

  There are three other forms of treatment that are closely related to Helminthic therapy. Each form of treatment involves utilizing a different type of parasite. Treatments are targeted at treating Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, IBD, multiple sclerosis, asthma, eczema, dermatitis, hay fever and food allergies

How Does Worm Therapy Work for Allergies?

• Neil Lynch and his colleagues at the University of Venezuela began researching worm therapy in correlation with asthma back in 1980. Their research study showed that 90 percent of Venezuelan Indians living in the rainforest were not only infested by parasites or intestinal worms, but the Indians had no allergies whatsoever. When the research team turned their focus to Venezuelan Indians who lived in the city, 43 percent of the city folks suffered from allergies.

  In the late 1980s, more researchers became interested in the idea and theories behind worm therapy. Research was taken to a new level when Joel Weinstock and his research team at the University of Iowa infected seven individuals who had been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and had not responded well to traditional therapy. More than 70 percent of the patients in the trial reported remarkable improvement.

  Researchers at the University of Nottingham looked into autoimmune dysfunction by treating asthma patients with human hookworms. Again, nearly 70 percent of the patients who participated in the research study showed remarkable improvement.

Participating in Worm Therapy

• Worm therapy is an ongoing research. The important thing to remember is that it is typically completed as a supervised research study. It can be difficult for patients to find worm therapy clinics in their area, but patients who are interested should speak to their family doctor or check with the local research universities, who may be conducting a study on worm therapy. Worm therapy should be completed in a controlled environment and is not something that should be attempted at home or by someone who is not a trained professional. Worm therapy environments are controlled scientific environments. Contrary to popular belief, individuals interested in participating in worm therapy should not attempt to complete the therapy on their own by becoming infected at home.